The present invention relates generally to automated external defibrillators. In particular, the present invention is an automated external defibrillator (AED) with the ability to store rescue information including patient data, AED operational data and sound from a rescue event.
Automated external defibrillators or AEDs are used by police officers, paramedics and other first-responder emergency medical technicians to resuscitate cardiac arrest patients. It is important that the AEDs carried by these technicians be continuously operational and ready for use on a moment""s notice. It is essential that in a high stress situation of cardiac arrest, the technician be able to rely on the operability of the AED. Studies have shown that the chances of successfully resuscitating a patient decreases approximately ten percent per minute following cardiac arrest. Thus, it is vital to be able track and monitor the operation of the AED and its users through various rescue events so that appropriate and timely responses by the AED and its users may be ensured. There is, therefore, a need for an AED that has the ability to record rescue information including patient data, AED operational data and/or the sound from a rescue event.
The problems outlined above are in large measure solved by an automated external defibrillator (AED) with the ability to store rescue information. The AED has a case for housing a power supply that is electrically connected to a circuit for generating a defibrillation pulse. The circuit is electrically connected to a pair of electrodes that are applied to a patient to deliver the defibrillation pulse. The AED further comprises an archival storage means for storing rescue information. The archival storage means is containable within the case and is able to store various types of rescue information including patient data, operational data of the AED, and sound that occurs within the immediate vicinity of the AED during a rescue.